Hello again :) So the first chapter is kind of setting the scene for the rest of the story :) Now, the time period we are at, is the one we will stay at for the duration of the story. Enjoy~ :)

(Lotari POV)

"Isabela! Isabelaaaaa!" I whispered hoarsely, nudging her repeatedly. I glanced over at my opponent, knowing he hadn't heard me over the loud roars of the Hanged Man.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" she cooed, slapping away Varric's attempt to look at the cards she was holding.

"Help me with this hand?" I muttered, sneaking a look at Hawke. If I didn't hurry, he was going to find out that I was cheating!

"Lotari! You honestly believe I would help you win a match against Hawke?"

"Yes! Now hurry!" I pleaded, boring my blue eyes into her brown ones.

"Oh fine! That look you get kills me every time! Use the four then the ten." She grumbled in defeat. I grinned at her and nodded fervently.

"Lotari? What are you guys talking about over there?" Hawke's voice made the both of us jump in our seats and turn away from each other instantly.

"Oh nothing…" I trailed off, smirking as I saw Isabela's plan work to my advantage.

"Seems as though I win again, Hawke," I said sheepishly, grinning up at him.

Just then, Anders walked through the door, reeking depression. Varric, Isabela and I all glanced at each other and I decided to walk over to him.

What could possibly be his problem now?

:~:

(Anders POV)

I stumbled into the Hanged man, cranky and ready for a drink after another long day. I ignored the murmurs around me as the chair closest to me started to look like the comfiest place in the world. Slumping in it, I ordered the strongest drink they had, only to feel a finger prodding my shoulder.

"Long day, Anders? Came to play a couple card games with us?"

I turned my head to see Lotari's face, and I couldn't help but smile.

What are we doing here? You know you can't drink, Anders

My smile soon faded as Justice's voice pounded in my head.

"I'm just here to drink Lotari. Could you please just leave me alone for once? You know you're really irritating sometimes," I said, glaring at her, trying to keep my tone affirmative. But my heart literally fell to the floor as I saw her expression change; I swear even her pointy little ears drooped, but that sad smile stuck to her face like a tattoo.

"Oh. Well sorry Anders," she said in a forced cheery voice, which only made me more upset with myself, "Feel better, alright?" She patted me on the shoulder and walked off to join Varric and Isabela, leaving me even more upset then when I walked in here.

Great. Just fantastic. I've gone and hurt her again.

You are foolish, Anders. She is just a pesky nat. You are much better off without her.

Oh will you shut up? You're not really making anything better, Justice.

I sigh and run a hand through my shabby hair. Andraste's Breath, what have I gotten myself into?

:~:

(Lotari POV)

"Sooo…Hawke," I broke the silence, walking faster to catch up with him. He smirked at me and put his hand around my shoulders.

"Oh c'mon Lotari, where's your sense of adventure?" Hawke interrupted me, not even letting me ask my question. He waved out in front of him, referencing a dark abyss that is Lowtown after nightfall, "You don't need to know where we're going constantly! Let my excellent leadership take you on a brand new journey!"

"Oh please. We're probably going to deliver some herbs to that freaky potion man again," I grumbled," Which of course, might I add, is why you need me, Varric, AND Carver to escort you there."

"Have a little faith, knife ears! I promise you there's going to be a bunch of murder…slashy…stuff… okay fine! I found a letter that said a dwarf needed our help getting a hold of some not so legal items…as in lyrium."

"So basically Butters is right. Were delivering lyrium to a half-sensible dwarf who probably still thinks he's gonna fall through the sky any second," Varric mumbled, putting Bianca back in her place.

"Well…okay yes. Andraste's Breathe you people are so irritating!" Hawke grumbled, but not before flashing a grin at me, signifying he had won the argument. I stuck my tongue out at him before slowing down to keep pace with Varric, glancing at him as he smirked and winked at me.

You may have won the battle, Hawke, but I can assure you that the war is nowhere near over.

:~:

(Lotari POV)

After hearing from the dwarf that the lyrium was in some old shack, we finally reached it only to be attacked by thieves in there. Once we finally searched every nook and cranny, we admitted to coming up empty. There wasn't a single stash of lyrium anywhere around here.

"Andraste's flaming ass, there's nothing here! I'm gonna kill that idiotic dwarf for making us go through all of this in the middle of the night for nothing!" Carver moaned, lightly kicking one of the empty chests in anger. I usually would annoying him for whining so much, but I couldn't shake this feeling that something was missing from this equation. I glanced over at Hawke and I could tell he felt just as uneasy. Strangely, Varric seemed just as annoyed as Carver, and both of them stormed out of the shack, with Hawke and I right behind them.

"Halt! You are under arrest for escaping your master!" A tall woman screamed at us, which only made Carver burst out laughing, and Hawke stand a little bit closer to me. I rolled my eyes at Hawke, but decided not to make him move. This was tense, and I wasn't about to be the one to cause a scene.

"Seriously? You think that we're slaves? We've been tricked, we've done nothing wrong" Varric said in a calm voice, assessing the situation. We were completely surrounded, there were at least 15 heavily built men, and only us four to fight them back. To top it off, we had no healer. Lovely.

There was a dead silence until the woman who seemed to be the commander finally noticed me.

"There! Get the girl! The magistrate said that the slave was an elf! And kill the rest of them for trying to escape with her!" she screamed, and soon everyone was upon us. Varric scooted to the side and dealt heavy damage through Bianca, while Hawke and Carver focused on full out attacking the main group of men. I scooted around and attacked the men in the back, stabbing them quickly and efficiently. But it seemed wherever I went, they all followed. Disgruntled, I tried to fight them off, but when I had three on my back, one of them managed to slash me deep in my back.

I quickly spun around and stabbed him in the heart before finishing of the last of the men.

"Damn. One of them really got me, huh?" I said with a smile, forcing the pain to leave my facial features. It's just a scratch, it's just a scratch…

"I don't know who you are friend but you've made a serious mistake coming here," Another man said as he walked towards the clearing, "Lieutenant I want everyone in the clearing, now!" he yelled, and a groan escaped my lips.

"Seriously? Whoever this slave is, they must be worth an arm and a half" I grumbled. Hawke glanced over at me with concern, gazing at my wound. I grinned at him to show him I was fine, but I could tell by the deepening of his frown that he didn't buy it. I could hear clanking in the distance, and awaited another swarm of enemies to kill.

Uh Oh! How will Lotari survive the next swarm if she's so injured? Hope you liked it, please review! :)